Silva bounces back to lift Twins past Royals

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - Carlos Silva is nervous about what might
happen, but he continues to make his case to remain a member of
the Minnesota Twins.

The soon-to-be free agent righthander battled through six
innings of eight-hit ball to help the Twins top the Kansas City
Royals, 6-4, on Saturday.

Silva (11-13) bounced back from a rocky start against Cleveland
and has allowed nine earned runs in his last 9 2/3 innings, but
he won for the second time in his last three starts and has a
3.15 ERA in his last six outings.

But only time will tell if it is good enough to keep him in
Minnesota.

"The last time I pitched, in Cleveland, I got in that mode in my
mind during the game - there are a lot of rumors that will be
out there," Silva said. "I was looking at the coaches to see
what's going on. It's hard to be like that. I'm going to be
pitching somewhere no matter where, you know? I would like to
stay here. This team means a lot to me."

Silva fought through a rough spring training and the Twins took
much criticism for leaving him in the rotation with youngsters
like Scott Baker, Matt Garza and Kevin Slowey waiting for an
opportunity.

Silva has struggled at times - and did so again Saturday when he
admittedly didn't have his best pitches - but consistently
pitched deep into games for Minnesota.

"He's given us an opportunity to win a lot of baseball games,"
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He's an innings-eater and
you have to have those guys on the staff that give you the
chance to win and eat up a lot of innings and he's done those
things for us for the most part. It's not a surprise for us,
but a surprise for a lot of people, I think."

Royals starter Brandon Duckworth (2-4), who was activated from
the 15-day disabled list prior to the game after missing 68
games with a left rib cage strain, was given a 3-2 lead by his
offense heading into the bottom half of the fifth inning. But
his third start of the season would fall apart from there.

Duckworth, who was moved to the bullpen after two starts to
begin the season before going on the disabled list, hit Jason
Bartlett to lead off the frame and gave up an RBI double to
Torii Hunter down the right-field line.

Hunter was erased on Justin Morneau's fielder's choice, but
Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel hit back-to-back singles to give
the Twins a 4-3 lead and end Duckworth's day.

"I thought Ducky was fine," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "The
hit-by-pitch to Bartlett after we got ahead, that opens it up
for Hunter, Morneau and Cuddyer, so I think that was the key
at-bat right there."

Reliever Neal Musser, who was called up for the fifth time this
season from Class AAA Omaha before the game, came on to face
Redmond. Musser got ahead in the count 1-2, but Redmond ripped
a double down the third-base line to bring in a pair of runs and
give the Twins a three-run cushion.

Redmond, who was making his sixth start in seven games since
Mauer was shelved, went 2-for-3 with a walk, improving his
batting average to .441 with nine RBI in nine games against the
Royals this season. He has two hits in each of his last three
starts overall.

Duckworth allowed six runs - five earned - on eight hits with
two walks and two strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. He had a 1.59
ERA in his other two starts this season.

Billy Butler and Shane Costa added back-to-back doubles for the
second time in the contest off reliever Pat Neshek in the eighth
inning to pull the Royals within 6-4. Joe Nathan then entered
the game and got the final four outs for his 29th save in 31
chances.

The Royals put up a pair of runs on Silva in the fourth on
back-to-back one-out doubles from Butler and Costa, along with
an RBI single from Tony Pena. Alex Gordon supplied Kansas
City's third run with a solo home run with two outs in the fifth
inning.

Minnesota scored in the second on Luis Rodriguez's RBI double
and Rodriguez scored the Twins' second run on a Pena throwing
error following Nick Punto's two-out single in the fourth.

Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored after being
called up from Class AAA Rochester before the game. Kubel went
1-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI.

Butler, Costa, Pena and Mike Sweeney all had two hits apiece for
the Royals, who have lost three of their last four games.

Silva (11-13) went six innings, allowing three runs on eight
hits with no walks and four strikeouts. Those aren't the numbers
Silva is looking for as he holds out hope for a spot in the
five-man rotation next season that could include any combination
of Baker, Garza, Slowey, Johan Santana, Boof Bonser, Francisco
Liriano and Boof Bonser.

"I think he wants to pitch here, he loves it here," Gardenhire
said. "Those are things that we can't control in this room. I
can't control it, I can only have my say in it. As a manager you
like guys who can eat up innings, a good teammate, he roots for
the guys. Every once in awhile he gets a little wacky on us out
there, but all pitchers do. We have a lot of fun with him
around here."

But just because Gardenhire wants him doesn't mean that Silva
will stay. Silva admitted that he was nervous when he saw
general manager Terry Ryan come to the clubhouse on Friday - the
last day for waiver-wire trades - and said he has checked the
computer every morning to see if he's still a member of the
Twins.

"This team was the team that gave me the opportunity to be a
starter," Silva said. "I'll continue pitching no matter where,
but it's tough. It's a bad feeling for me, my family, my wife,
we are waiting, we don't know what's going to happen. Just have
my stuff ready. Its very tough to be in that position."

ALAT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATESOLO HOME RUN BY ALEX GORDON (12) TO CENTER WITH 2 OUT IN THE 5TH OFF CARLOS SILVA.CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 3, MINNESOTA 2DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: B BUTLER (.298, 1-FOR-2)